[Himachal GK] Bhunda Festival in Himachal Pradesh

Fairs and festivals have always been a part of
the life of tribes in India. One of the such festivals is Bhunda festival,
which is celebrated in Nirmand region of Himachal Pradesh. Nirmand
is located at a distance of around 150 km from Shimla and 17 km from Rampur.
Famous by the name of Bhund Narmedh (Human Sacrifice) mahayajna, Bhunda is
celebrated every after 12 years. This festival

mainly revolves around
Beda tribes of Himachal Pradesh, who have a major role to play in the whole
Bhunda ceremony.

Bhunda festival in Himachal Pradesh is performed believing that it will make
local deity happy and He will shower prosperity and goodwill on the villagers.
The main hero of the festival, a man from Beda tribe who is designated to
perform the ritual, starts taking meal once in a day when only one month is
left for the festival. He starts weaving the sacred rope by collecting the
'Munji' grass, on which he is going to
slide on the day of the tribal ceremony, which is generally around
500 meters in length.

On the final day of the tribal Bhunda festival all the local deities
are invited to the place of event where priests and a large number of
audience gather to witness the traditional Bhunda celebration. The Beda man
takes bath, wears a white dress (kafan) and worship the local deity after which
he is accompanied to the site of the event with drum beats. The sacred
rope weaved by the Beda is tied to a high point on a hill at one side
and at another side it is tied to a point across a ravine deepdown on the
ground. The Beda then sits on a wooden sliding saddle tied to the rope with his
hands pointing upwards and slides down the ropeway, where his wife sits like a
widow. If the man is able to survive and perform the event successfully, he and
his family become rich as they are bestowed with huge amount of money and
jewelery from the temple fund and is carried to the temple on a palanquin where
hundreds of goats are sacrificed by the villagers in the name of local deity.
But if the man is not able to survive, then his family is taken care off by the
villagers.

Nowadays, special precautions are taken by the local authorities during Bhunda
festival like tying of sand bags on both the legs of the Beda man
sliding down the rope so as to maintain the balance and putting of
nets and mattresses below the rope to avoid any unusual happening.

Thousands of visitors from various parts of Himachal Pradesh and
other parts of the country including tribal regions witness this three days
long Bhunda festival ceremony. Though for localites it is an usual affair but
for the visitors from outside, it is nothing less than an event where a human
being is forced knowingly into the mouth of death.